Disgusting. So too the bark beetle epidemic. At one point in British Columbia, it was already known just how many bark beetles needed to die to prevent a catastrophe. The cork-sucking foresters and entomologists on both sides of the Canadian border allowed the debauch to the point that clouds of beetles could be detected on radar. Contemplate the pathology and behiold, in vivid intuition the madness in the bark beetle YouTubes: this arrogant female is telling us what forests of the future will be like, because the species that was (beetle-eaten[italics) will not survive. There will be a serious jones when pollen will have to be collected by hand (while dodging drones) for sale here at Infowars. A review of the militant gardener in Los Angeles (YouTube) will accompany a review of Euell Gibbons. Your choice whether or not to hire a capitalist scientist with testing equipment, or to go it alone and ingest the herbage, a kind of botanical roulette.

Disgusting. So too the bark beetle epidemic. At one point in British Columbia, it was already known just how many bark beetles needed to die to prevent a catastrophe. The cork-sucking foresters and entomologists on both sides of the Canadian border allowed the debauch to the point that clouds of beetles could be detected on radar. ...

[ refer to the first post - the earlier fires have left the weakened forests vulnerable to the final blow of the Beetle infestation

"Forest fires create entrances for diseases and insects; staining the wood that could be used for lumber; and cause rot to begin and continue."]

Colorado's 4.3 million acres of beetle-decimated forests represent a catastrophe in the making during another devastating wildfire season.

Or do they?

That is the conventional wisdom as another summer unfolds with destructive blazes that have left skies along the Front Range choked with smoke, but the reality is not so simple.

"The issue is not will beetle-kill forests burn -- they certainly will," said Monica Turner, a University of Wisconsin professor who has done extensive research of wildfires in the West. "The question is, are they [is] burning worse -- more severely -- than if the forest was green?"

Turner was raised in the suburbs of Long Island just outside of New York city. Her father was a self-employed lawyer and her mother was an executive in Girl Scouting. Turner obtained her B.S in Biology summa cum laude from Fordham University in 1980. ...Turner went on to become a staff scientist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. As a scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory...

In 1988 Turner sought to find a Landscape in which to study her model. After rejoining with fellow ecologist Bill Romme an expert in Yellowstone fire-history Turner was able to find the landscape she needed in the fire ridden Yellowstone, in which more than one-third of the park had been burned... ‘‘As we continue to deal with the effects of global warming, I think we are going to see an increasing frequency, severity, and range of disturbances, which will produce much more interaction,’’ Turner on the future of ecological disturbances....

The mountain pine beetle (MPB) Dendroctonus ponderosae, is a species of bark beetle native to the forests of western North America from Mexico to central British Columbia. It has a hard black exoskeleton, and measures approximately 5 mm, about the size of a grain of rice.

In western North America, the current outbreak of the mountain pine beetle and its microbial associates has destroyed wide areas of lodgepole pine forest, including more than 16 million hectares in British Columbia.[1] The current outbreak in the Rocky Mountain National Park began in 1996 and has caused the destruction of millions of acres of ponderosa and lodgepole pine trees. According to an annual assessment by the state's forest service, 264,000 acres of trees in Colorado were infested by the mountain pine beetle at the beginning of 2013. This was much smaller than the 1.15 million acres that were affected in 2008 because the beetle has already killed off most of the vulnerable trees (Ward).

...Fire hazards[edit source]

The long-held belief that beetle infestations and resulting deadkill lead to more devastating forest fires is currently being challenged. Though most firefighters would strongly disagree, ongoing NASA studies have shown beetle kill may actually reduce available small fuels and consequently limit the effect and reach of fires.[18]

The mountain pine beetle (MPB) is a native insect that attacks pines in western North American forests.

The current MPB outbreak started in British Columbia in the early 1990s. The insect has since killed about 50% of the total volume of commercial lodgepole pine in the province. While isolated records of MPB had been noted in Alberta before, it was the massive migration of beetles into that province from outbreaks in British Columbia during 2006 that fuelled the spread eastward.

California's national parks are full of them, say authoritiesBy Ruth Brown, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 31, 2013 4:59 PM CDT

Newser) – A fire chief in California's Tuolumne County quietly revealed an interesting tidbit about the origins of the Rim Fire last week, the San Jose Mercury News reports: officials suspect it was started by marijuana growers. "We don't know the exact cause," he told a town meeting, but said it was definitely "human caused" and that it was "highly suspect that there might have been some sort of illicit grove, a marijuana-grow-type thing. "It wouldn't be the first time. A 2009 fire in Los Padres National Forest near Santa Barbara is believed to have been caused by a campfire at an illegal pot plantation run by a Mexican drug cartel....

Chief Todd McNeil of Twain Harte Fire has been on the Fire line as Division Crew Supervisor since the beginning of The Rim Fire on Sunday.]

Investigators searching for answers into what caused the massive wildfire burning in and around Yosemite National Park have made some headway, fire officials said Friday.

Most authorities are mum about the details, but one fire official in Tuolumne County offered a tantalizing clue when he recently told a community meeting that the fire was likely caused by marijuana growers...."We know it's human caused. There was no lightning in the area," said McNeal, a former captain with the Sonora Fire Department who has fought fires for 23 years for the Forest Service, the National Park Service and other agencies in the Sierra Nevada....

Logged

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Tree-thinning projects approved by US forest service but never funded by Congress may have slowed fire's progress

Reuters theguardian.com, Sunday 1 September 2013 09.41 EDT

A cluster of controlled fire and tree-thinning projects approved by forestry officials but never funded might have slowed the progress of the massive Rim fire in California, a wide range of critics said this weekend. ...The projects, which were approved by the US forest service but never funded by Congress, would have thinned the woods in about 25 square miles (65 square km) in the Groveland district of the Stanislaus national forest, much of which was incinerated by the Rim fire. About 9,000 acres were suitable to be deliberately burned as fire prevention buffer zones in 2012, the forest service said in a document provided to Reuters.

But reductions in funding for fire prevention efforts by Congress in recent years coupled with stringent air quality standards that limit the timeframe for such burns have hampered efforts to carry them out on a larger scale. ..."This is a colossal unfunded backlog of critically important fuel reduction work," said John Buckley, executive director of the Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center and a former forest service firefighter. The projects "would have inarguably made the Rim Fire far easier to contain, far less expensive and possibly not even a major disaster". ...Federal fire figures show an average of 7.6m acres charred per year between 2004 and 2012, up from 3.6m acres annually in the preceding 20 years.

Part of the problem, experts and many fire officials say, is that funding has been low for the controlled burns and forest-thinning work that makes it harder for a wildfire to spread. ...Mike Albrecht, co-owner of the logging company Sierra Resource Management, which operates on public land in the Sierra Nevada mountains said that the backlogged projects would likely have helped limit the Rim fire. The "one-two punch" of thinning the forest through logging and prescribed burns is essential for stemming the tide of catastrophic wildfires across the American west, he said. ...

Craig Thomas, conservation director for the environmental coalition group Sierra Forest Legacy... federal and state air quality regimes that limit the timeframe for prescribed burns by counting the smoke they generate along with industrial and auto emissions - while not counting the smoke from an actual wildfire. ...

Tom McClintock [(R)] , a third-term conservative Republican in whose district the Rim Fire has burned.

More dire than a backlog of forest service controlled burns, McClintock says, is the precipitous, 25-year decline in logging of bigger, money-making trees on public lands.

"If we were harvesting the same amount of timber we once did, we'd have fewer fires but also a revenue stream for the treatment of many thousands of acres that we're not treating today," he said. ...

Logged

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

MPB did not start in the 1990s, and it would not be surprising if cartoon growers started the fires. Arizona's fire left alkaline conditions, so Fordham University's graduate can get her rump back to the book on plague published by that university, and at the same time review Rail's Ecotoxicology of Plague (UNM Press). The text to cite for earlier studies showing an imprtant threshold for bark beetles is still being sought so that common persons can see it for themselves publisehd in cyberspace. Knowing the delirium and impotency of late capitalism, we doubt that anyone else, paid or not, will be able to do anything about it, either: Jaba's punk-ass Gestapo tickets you for attempting to wipe off an oily sea-gull, because only those "certified" are allowed in the forest. What that fascist machine will be getting for it, will be stupidity-crucifying information anarchy, as the Oglala Aquifer is drained to amnesiac oblivion. What the hell else did you expect, Dipshit? Not only does it (have to get political[italics]), it also must put a leash on the schizoid homoeroticity of islamochristian capitalism and its passion seeking. This earth-debauching machine, that seeks to get everyone else involved while god chases everything non-human away, fish, ducks.... is being played out with the WHO telling us not to worry about the 2014 radiation wave from Fukushima: it not only does not know what will happen, it wants Jaba's prisoners to think only of themselves, which will help keep them in Stalin's White Nursery, and make it so that the Theologian can continue to project arrogance, stupidity, and the right to sequester.

The monstrous California wildfire that has scorched an area nearly the size of New York City doesn't just loom over hundreds of homes — it's also threatening one of the cornerstones of the regional economy: cattle.

Many of the thousands of grass-fed cows who have grazed on lush land in the Stanislaus National Forest — where the massive fire sparked Aug. 17 — are now feared displaced, wounded or dead, according to the San Francisco Chronicle....As local ranch hands deal with their potentially decimated stock — and with the future of grazing in the forest area unclear — the regional cattle industry may take a big hit, according to the newspaper

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Oh yes get ready for the rainy season ! Now that they've (agenda21) shut down the major industry of the west (Timber), if they can't burn you out, they will flood you out... Just think of all the spotted owls they have saved! (KILLED)

They lie and people die .... Notice that the government ends up owning the remaining economy here either fighting fire floods and mopping up "the recovery"

President Obama approved federal disaster aid late Thursday night for areas along Colorado’s Front Range mountains after days of heavy rain caused flash flooding that left at least three dead and prompted authorities to evacuate thousands from cities like Boulder.

Governor John Hickenlooper signed a disaster declaration and said, "this could easily be a 50 or 100-year-flood."

After a rainy week, up to 8 more inches fell in an area spanning from the Wyoming border south to the foothills west of Denver. Flooding extended all along the Front Range mountains and into some cities, including Colorado Springs, Denver, Fort Collins, Greeley, Aurora and Boulder....

Some of the flooding was exacerbated by wildfire "burn scars" that have spawned flash floods all summer in the mountains. That was particularly true in an area scarred by fire in 2010 near the tiny community of Jamestown and another near Colorado Springs' Waldo Canyon that was hit in 2012

\ - - - - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324576304579070993584463288.htmlUpdated September 12, 2013, 12:42 p.m. ETFloods Soak Colorado Region Left Vulnerable by Fires Hevy Rains Hammer Boulder, Nearby Mountain Communities, Stranding Residents...The large wildfires that wiped out swaths of forest land in the central area of the state during the past two years have exacerbated flooding conditions and sent debris-filled water careening down from the mountains, according to the National Weather Service.

There had been rain forecasted in the area, but the amount and duration of the precipitation was unexpected, said Nezette Rydell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder.

Boulder, Colo., is getting absolutely drenched — since last night (Sept. 11), an incredible 5 to 10 inches (13 to 25 centimeters) of rain have fallen in the city and its surrounding areas, and the deluge continues....

The downpour has caused flash floods throughout the Boulder area and killed two people, according to news reports. Many roads throughout the area are impassible, and most businesses and schools throughout the region have closed.

But one factor has made the flooding considerably worse: the wildfires that have stricken the forests in the region in the past few years, said Kari Bowen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Boulder.

"When you have a dense forest with undergrowth, you have plants and things to trap moisture and rain," Bowen told LiveScience. "But when it's gone, you have nothing to catch it." The fire also makes the ground almost hydrophobic, or water-repelling, and these effects can last 10 to 15 years, she added.

A satellite spied the burned-out scar left by Colorado's Waldo Canyon fire on July 4. (Photo: NASA

This means that when large quantities of rain fall, the water runs off the ground as it would off a sheet of metal. Even a half inch (1.3 cm) of rain can cause flooding when it falls in a short amount of time, not to mention the current onslaught of precipitation, Bowen said. The mountainous topography of the area worsens the flooding, channeling it into valleys and sending it screaming down the slopes.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, the flooding is worse in some areas that have seen forest fires in recent years, including the High Park area and Waldo Canyon, the scene of fires of the same name in June 2012. The Waldo Canyon fire was the worst in the state's history to that date, burning more than 18,000 acres (7,300 hectares) near Colorado Springs and destroying more than 300 homes.

The burn scars from these fires are also at increased risk of debris flows and mudslides for the same reason: Water quickly runs off, and there are fewer plants to hold rocks and soil in place. "The water carries soil and rocks and dead trees, and causes a lot of destruction," Bowen said.

So far, there have been reports of debris washing out roads in the High Park area, Bowen said. Another place that saw wildfires, the Fourmile Canyon burn area, has multiple roads out due to flooding and debris, according to the NWS. That fire occurred in September 2010, 5 miles (8 kilometers) from downtown Boulder, and burned 6,181 acres (2,501 hectares). ...

Hotline Set Up For People With Missing Relatives Or Friends: (303) 776-2927

September 13, 2013 3:50 PM

...Almost 3,500 people were evacuated at midnight in the city as the Emerson Gulch in Fourmile Canyon west of the city washed out and there was concern that creek would crest. Water levels did rise rapidly, and one point overnight water flowed at speeds of 5,000 cubic feet per second....

As the 138,000-acre Silver Fire was still smoldering in New Mexico in June 2013, forest restoration specialists were already on the job. They needed to figure out where to focus emergency restoration efforts, so they analyzed maps to determine where the fire had destroyed vegetation and exposed the soil.

The Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team of the U.S. Forest Service goes into the woods as soon as the flames die down. Their job is to help protect reservoirs, watersheds, and infrastructure from floods and erosion in the wake of the fire. And Landsat satellites, built by NASA and operated by the U.S. Geological Survey, help guide those crews to the forested areas needing attention....“The whole basis for this is the need for speed,” said Penny Luehring, leader of the BAER team and the watershed improvement program for the U.S. Forest Service. “In the southwest and southern California, there’s four to six weeks after fire season before it starts to rain and flood. If we’re going to put anything in place that has a chance of controlling or mitigating the effects of water, we have to do it right away.”

After the Silver Fire, for example, the BAER team identified severely burned areas upstream of a community, campgrounds, and forest roads. Crews scattered barley seeds over 11,000 acres, dropped mulch on 800 acres, closed off some roads and storm-proofed others.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS) is a multi-year project designed to consistently map the burn severity and perimeters of fires across all lands of the United States from 1984 and beyond. The data generated by MTBS will be used to identify national trends in burn severity, providing information necessary to monitor the effectiveness and effects of the National Fire Plan and Healthy Forests Restoration Act. MTBS is sponsored by the Wildland Fire Leadership Council (WFLC), a multi-agency oversight group responsible for implementing and coordinating the National Fire Plan and Federal Wildland Fire Management Policies. The project is conducted through a partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey National Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) and the USDA Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Center (RSAC).

1.National policies and policy makers such as the National Fire Plan and WFLC which require information about long-term trends in burn severity and recent burn severity impacts within vegetation types, fuel models, condition classes, and land management activities.

2.Field management units that benefit from mid to broad scale GIS-ready maps and data for pre- and post-fire assessment and monitoring. Field units that require finer scale burn severity data will also benefit from increased efficiency, reduced costs, and data consistency by starting with MTBS data.

3.Existing databases from other comparably scaled programs, such as Fire Regime and Condition Class (FRCC) within LANDFIRE, that will benefit from MTBS data for validation and updating of geospatial data sets.

4.Academic and agency research entities interested in fire severity data over significant geographic and temporal extents.

MTBS is similar to other image processing and analysis methods currently utilized by the USGS and USFS for existing post-fire burn severity mapping efforts. The USGS Landsat image archive provides a consistent and continuous source of 30 meter resolution data for mapping burn severity of all fires greater than 1000 acres in the west and 500 acres in the east.

The Wildland Fire Leadership Council (WFLC) was established in April 2002 by the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to provide an intergovernmental committee to support the implementation and coordination of Federal Fire Management Policy. A Memorandum of Understanding (PDF, 1.6 MB) was signed in April 2010 by the Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, and Secretary of Homeland Security to authorize the continuation of the WFLC. The Council meets regularly to provide oversight and coordination of the Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy.

Mission

The Wildland Fire Leadership Council (Council) is an intergovernmental committee of Federal, state, tribal, county, and municipal government officials convened by the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, and Homeland Security dedicated to consistent implementation of wildland fire policies, goals, and management activities. The Council provides strategic oversight to ensure policy coordination, accountability, and effective implementation of Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy and related long-term strategies to address wildfire preparedness and suppression, hazardous fuels reduction, landscape restoration and rehabilitation of the Nation's wildlands, and assistance to communities.

The National Fire Plan (NFP) was developed in August 2000, following a landmark wildland fire season, with the intent of actively responding to severe wildland fires while ensuring sufficient firefighting capacity for the future. The NFP provides technical, financial, and resource guidance and support for wildland fire management across the United States. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior work together to implement the five key points addressed by the NFP: firefighting, rehabilitation, hazardous fuels reduction, community assistance, and accountability. Field offices of five Federal wildfire management agencies and bureaus, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the USDA Forest Service, use the National Fire Plan Operations and Reporting System (NFPORS) to plan and report accomplishments funded by the NFP.

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Boulder, Colorado (CNN) -- Rain was still coming down Sunday in Colorado, preventing aerial efforts to search for those missing from a devastating flood, authorities said.

"It's unlikely at this point that we'll be able to reach those who are stranded in the hard-to-reach areas," said Kim Kobel, a spokesperson for Boulder's Office of Emergency Management.

But rescuers continued their ground efforts, searching for what could be hundreds of people unaccounted for.

A tearful Larimer County Sheriff told reporters that what he's seen, even in the most devastated areas, has restored his hope.

Sheriff Justin Smith visited areas "somewhat cut off from the rest of the world," he said.

The roads and homes might be gone, but Smith said "inch by inch, mile by mile, community by community they are taking this stuff back."

Smith spoke of firefighters who pulled signs out of the mud and residents using their ATVs to rescue neighbors.

Still he couldn't begin to estimate the scope of the damage. "I've known these areas for 25 years," he said "I don't recognize some of them."...Damage worth millions

Boulder County alone will need an estimated $150 million to repair 100 to 150 miles of roadway and 20 to 30 bridges, county transportation director George Gerstle said. The repair bill will be "10 to 15 times our annual budget," he said.

A helicopter surveillance mission Saturday carrying Hickenlooper and members of Colorado's congressional delegation was diverted twice to pick up people waving to be rescued.

After the officials' delayed arrival at a Boulder airport, U.S. Sen. Mark Udall promised a bipartisan push in Congress for federal aid for flood recovery.

President Barack Obama signed a major disaster declaration for Colorado on Sunday and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in Boulder County....

Two teens killed

The four confirmed deaths included a man and a woman, both 19, who were swept away after leaving their car Thursday in Boulder County. Authorities said the woman left the car first, and the man jumped out to try to save her. Authorities recovered both bodies.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A gigantic wildfire in and around Yosemite National Park was caused by an illegal fire set by a hunter, the U.S. Forest Service said Thursday.

The agency said there is no indication the hunter was involved with illegal marijuana cultivation, which a local fire chief had speculated as the possible cause of the blaze.

No arrests have been made, and the hunter's name was being withheld pending further investigation, according to the Forest Service.

A Forest Service statement gave no details on how the illegal fire in a remote canyon of the Stanislaus National Forest had escaped the hunter's control on Aug. 17. Because of high fire danger across the region, the Forest Service had banned fires outside of developed camping areas more than a week before the fire started.

"We're not going to release any more information while the investigation is ongoing," said Ray Mooney, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.

Investigators would not say whether the hunter had turned himself in, Mooney said. When the investigation is complete, the U.S. Department of Justice would decide whether to seek restitution....

California's largest fire on record, a 2003 blaze in the Cleveland National Forest east of San Diego, was sparked by a novice deer hunter who became lost and set a signal fire in hope of being rescued.

Sergio Martinez was sentenced to six months in a work-furlough program, 960 hours of community service and five years of probation in 2005.

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Flash floods in Boulder area may also have ties to fires and climate change.

Brian Clark HowardNational GeographicPublished September 14, 2013

This story is part of a special National Geographic News series on global water issues.

University of Colorado, Boulder law school professor Brad Udall has long written and lectured about water issues in the American West, but this week’s Colorado floods have brought the subject to his doorstep....U.S. President Barack Obama declared an emergency for Boulder, Larimer, and El Paso counties on Friday and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has deployed four rescue teams to the area, the most ever in the state.

Just as troubling as all the damage, Udall says, is that this week’s floods do not fit into the usual pattern of high water in the West.

The floods were not the result of springtime rains or intense summer thunderstorms that quickly dump large amounts of rain in concentrated areas, such as the 1976 Big Thompson or 1997 Fort Collins floods.“This was a totally new type of event: an early fall widespread event during one of the driest months of the year,” Udall said.

....

Drought tends to harden the soil, she said. When rains do come, less of the water can absorb into the ground, so it quickly runs off the land.

Similarly, fires can lead to worse flooding, because they remove vegetation that can slow down and trap rainfall, Postel said. (See “Fire and Rain: The One-Two Punch of Flooding After Blazes.”

On the map above showing the active wildfires in Colorado, the green dots represent fires that are not being fully suppressed, while the red dots are fires that ARE being fully suppressed. The base map, with the dots, was provided by the Rocky Mountain Coordination Center; we added the fire names and acres.

It was declared 100 percent contained on July 10, 2012 after no smoke plumes were visible on a small portion of the containment line on Blodgett Peak. The fire was active in the Pike National Forest and adjoining areas, covering a total of 18,247 acres (29 sq mi; 74 km2).[1] The fire had caused the evacuation of over 32,000 residents of Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs and Woodland Park, several small mountain communities along the southwestern side of Highway 24, and partial evacuation of the United States Air Force Academy.[3][4] Approximately 346 homes were destroyed by the fire.[5] U.S. Highway 24, a major east-west road, was closed in both directions.[6]

The Waldo Canyon Fire resulted in insurance claims totaling more than US $453.7 million.[7]

It was the most destructive fire in Colorado state history, as measured by the number of homes destroyed, until the Black Forest fire surpassed it almost a year later, consuming 511 homes and damaging 28 others

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Forest_fireThe Black Forest fire was a forest fire that began near Highway 83 and Shoup Road in Black Forest, Colorado around 1:00 p.m. on June 11, 2013. As of June 20, 2013, the fire was 100 percent contained, 14,280 acres (22.31 sq mi; 57.8 km2) were burned, at least 509 homes were said to be destroyed, and two people had died.[4]

This was the most destructive fire in the state's history, surpassing the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire which also began near Colorado Springs. (Most of the Waldo Canyon blaze actually was in the city limits, while Black Forest is to the north of the city.

Managing Fire in AlaskaWildfires in Alaska burn hundreds of thousands of acres every year. Although aggressive fire suppression is a high priority for all agencies, the management objectives for suppression have been modified to integrate resource-management goals with fire protection by the “Fire Protection Levels.” The primary reasons for this change are:

•At certain periods during a fire season, wildfires can be so widespread, numerous, or burning so hot that they cannot be put out easily.•Fire is a natural part of Alaska’s ecosystem. Many positive benefits of fire have been recognized.•Fire-suppression efforts sometimes are more damaging than the wildfire.

For these reasons, Alaska’s state, federal, and private land managers got together in the late 1970s and developed a plan for cooperative fire fighting; The Alaska Interagency Fire Management Council.

The plan recognizes that fire is a part of the natural environmental cycle as well as a potential destroyer of life, property, and resources. The plan divides the state into fire-suppression areas based on natural fire breaks and the objectives of land managers—because fire does not recognize political boundaries.

The plan focuses fire-suppression near communities and valuable natural resources. In remote and unsettled areas, fires will be monitored to assure they do not burn unchecked toward areas where human life or development could be threatened. This cooperative plan is working well and has saved millions of local, state, and federal tax dollars.

What's scarier than a sharknado? A firenado -- because it actually exists.

More accurately known as a "fire whirl" or sometimes a "fire tornado," footage of a particularly violent one in Alaska has caught the Internet's attention.

According to the video's uploader, Douglas Burts, the footage is of Alaska's Tetlin Junction Fire. The clip, captured on Aug. 16, was filmed from a plane window, around 1,900 feet above the blaze. A report filed the next day noted the fire's 5,000-acre plume had "tornado strength" winds and several fire whirls.

The fire is believed to have been started on June 25 by a lightning strike. As of Aug. 19, the Tetlin Junction Ridge Fire had grown to 76,548 acres in size and was 50 percent contained....

Logged

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Within the footprint of California's Rim Fire is an area of 60 square miles where everything is dead, the worst such burn damage in centuries.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A fire that raged in forest land in and around Yosemite National Park has left a contiguous barren moonscape in the Sierra Nevada mountains that experts say is larger than any burned in centuries.

The fire has consumed about 400 square miles, and within that footprint are a solid 60 square miles that burned so intensely that everything is dead, researchers said.

"In other words, it's nuked," said Jay Miller, senior wildland fire ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service. "If you asked most of the fire ecologists working in the Sierra Nevada, they would call this unprecedented."

Smaller pockets inside the fire's footprint also burned hot enough to wipe out trees and other vegetation.

In total, Miller estimates that almost 40 percent of the area inside the fire's boundary is nothing but charred land. Other areas that burned left trees scarred but alive.

Using satellite imagery, Miller created a map of the devastation in the wake of the third-largest wildfire in California history and the largest recorded in the Sierra Nevada....Some areas of the Stanislaus National Forest ravaged by the Rim Fire had not burned in 100 years. Most of the land that now resembles a moonscape burned on Aug. 21 and Aug. 22, when the fire jumped to canopies and was spreading the fastest.

In this September 2013 photo provided by the U.S. Forest Service, Brad Rust, a soils scientist from the Burned Area Emergency Response team assesses a burn area in the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park, Calif. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service)

Logged

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

One USGS streamgage has been destroyed, two others have been damaged and nearly a dozen others have been threatened since the first flames of Rim Fire - now the third largest wildfire in California history - began burning in and around Yosemite National Park in August.

...Data from streamgages are essential for a wide variety of uses, including decision making related to water supply, hydropower, flood control, forecasting floods and droughts, water quality, environmental and watershed management, research, navigation, fishing, and water based recreation.

Logged

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

The hubs by the U .S. Department of Agriculture will provide scientific knowledge to help farmers, ranchers and landowners battle risks associated with climate change, including drought, floods, pests and fires.

However, he said, rural communities face more complex challenges today because of climate change.

"USDA's climate hubs are part of our broad commitment to developing the next generation of climate solutions so that our agricultural leaders have the modern technologies and tools they need to adapt and succeed in the face of a changing climate," Vilsack said.

The hubs will be in Iowa, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Colorado, Oklahoma, Oregon and New Mexico.

Additional sub-hubs will be set up in various other states, including Michigan and California.

Climate hubs will focus on regional issues, and will equip local communities with knowledge to help them adapt.

...The hubs are part of a broader commitment by President Barack Obama to make climate change a priority.

McClintock's bill, HR3188, would exempt salvage logging operations within the fire area from administrative review and from being challenged with lawsuits. It would also waive such logging from being delayed or prevented by existing laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and laws governing timber management for Yosemite National Park.

The Rim Fire, which started Aug. 17 and is still smoldering in remote areas between Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and Cherry Lake, is the largest wildfire in recorded history within the Sierra Nevada. It burned roughly a quarter of the Stanislaus National Forest as well as part of Yosemite National Park.

The Stanislaus National Forest is a significant source of logs, and the fire's damage represents a substantial loss of future timber supplies.

McClintock, however, says that as much as a billion board feet of timber could be salvaged if it is done within the next 18 months before insects and moisture degrade the wood in dead trees. "Moreover, revenues from the sale of salvage rights could be used to restore our ravaged forests and provide recovery assistance to cash-strapped local communities," McClintock said. "But this can't happen if salvage is indefinitely delayed by bureaucratic processes or the usual litigation filed by extremist environmental groups."...Buckley said he supports "massive" salvage logging because it is important to remove the dead trees so that crews can plant new tree seedlings. That way the new trees can get a head start on brush and grasses that will otherwise choke out burned areas.

Co-sponsors of HR3188 include Congressman Jeff Denham, R-Turlock who represents southern San Joaquin County. The bill is scheduled to go to a hearing before the House Natural Resources Committee on Thursday.

LINCOLN (CBS13) – A Lincoln business is salvaging logs from two major California fires, and says getting to the trees early is the key to replanting them for the future.

Logging trucks are loading up at Sierra Pacific Industries following a fiery summer season.

“We had a couple large fires here in California: The Rim Fire and the American Fire,” said Mark Luster, a spokesperson with Sierra Pacific Industries.

The trees may be burnt, but are still very useful.

“These logs still have a good value if you can capture these within the first 18 months,” said Luster.

Any longer than that and the logs lose their worth, rotting and decaying. So Sierra Pacific Industries has moved in to salvage the remains.

“If you look at the center of the tree, you can see that wood fiber still looks pretty good,” said Luster.

The technique Sierra Pacific uses is called forest thinning.

...

Logged

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Fire lanes, whatever happened to them. I spent some time in an area that was all needle pine, you couldn't find a leaf tree if your life depended on it. Pine lights up quick , so the rangers had fire lines cut, about a 40 yards wide or more, this was a serious safety measure in the event of forest fire. Is it possible to allow lumberjacks and small time wood cutters to use areas to be designated for fire lanes, let em make a buck and keep a degree of safety with lanes, or am I off the map..

Fire lanes, whatever happened to them. I spent some time in an area that was all needle pine, you couldn't find a leaf tree if your life depended on it. Pine lights up quick , so the rangers had fire lines cut, about a 40 yards wide or more, this was a serious safety measure in the event of forest fire. Is it possible to allow lumberjacks and small time wood cutters to use areas to be designated for fire lanes, let em make a buck and keep a degree of safety with lanes, or am I off the map..

They'll doze them IF there's funding for it. The more fires that have been in the area, the more justification to request additional funding. I've seen it happen.

Logged

The number one cause of all human poverty, misery, and death is not global warming. It’s GLOBAL LYING.

California is facing wildfires "outside of any normal bounds" as a historic drought turns drying brush and trees into a perfect tinderbox, officials have warned. The state recorded 665 wildfires from 1 January, about three times the average of 225 for this time of year, according to figures compiled by Cal Fire, the state's department of forestry and fire protection.

Each day without heavy rain deepened the risks of a catastrophic fire season and made it hard to deal with more wildfires if and when they broke out, officials warned. John Laird, the secretary for natural resources, told the Guardian: "This is going to be a fire season outside any normal bounds. Anything could happen at any time."

Although the wildfire season does not officially start until May in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, locals are adjusting to life on a year-round frontline....The Obama administration announced on Monday that it would set aside disaster funds for "mega-fires" across the western states which, like California, are experiencing drought. But local officials told reporters that when it came to fire risks California was now in a class of its own. It is as dry in the foothills and in southern California as during a typical July – the height of the fire season.

Many of the fires recorded up to 8 March were unusually big, roaring through up to 40 hectares a time. Some 3,000ha have been destroyed so far this year, compared with 2,000ha last year, which already ranked as a bad year for fire.

Even before this year's drought, forest officials were reporting a longer fire season, and more catastrophic mega-fires, in California and other western states. Half of the worst fires in recorded Californian history have occurred since 2002....

Quote

Climate change and land-use patterns are adding fuel to those fires. Higher temperatures, with recurring and intensifying droughts are drying out landscapes. Pest invasions, such as the pine bark beetle, have killed off stands of trees.

...

Logged

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Brush fires broke out in more than half a dozen spots in northern San Diego County and spread at a dangerous pace as hot, dry, erratic winds, backed by record temperatures, raked Southern California for a second day Wednesday.

“San Diego [County] residents are all too familiar with the destructive force of wildfires,” Jones said.

Logged

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Do explosives assist in stopping fires. Can fire lanes be inserted with explosives. I give it a yes, how about you folks.

These guys saw this coming a mile away ,,, there should have been large pre built fire breaks around all the home areas BEFORE all this a happened ... I lived in S.Diego. ITS A DESERT ,,, they spend millions on fighting the fire and little to none on prevention. These fires have happened before and they will happen again but no one needs to lose their home or their life.

Logged

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Four new fireline explosives products have been tested for use on prescribed burns and wildfires.These tests were conducted by the Missoula Technology and Development Center and the Bureau of Mines...

ETI Firebreak—A water gel det cord supplied in an 80-foot length on a wooden spool. Caseweight is 55 pounds; density is .60 pounds/foot. This product reliably initiates with a No.8 cap orexploding Bridgewire Detonator (EBW) at 32oF and above.

IRECO Fireline 6000—A water gel det cord supplied in an 80-foot length on a wooden spool.Case weight is 55 pounds; density is .60 pounds/foot. This product reliably initiates with a No.8 cap oran EBW down to 5oF.,...

New products will continue to be tested as part of the National Fireline Explosives Program

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Flagstaff fire: Again - they have shut down the rural timber industry in the west for 50 years and here we have the results another massive fire , this is after the Prescott fire last year that killed 19 firefighters .,..

Fifty years ago the areas of the North County San Diego fires had no homes built there. there were no roads or power or sewer or water to serve those yet to be communities , there really was no Carlsbad , there was just the navy town of Oceanside ... there are now 3-5 times the population in the area as there was fifty years ago (California ~16 million -> now 38 million ... ) (and I suspect most of these new people are foreign born )

KACHINA VILLAGE, Ariz. -- A wildfire that started in a scenic canyon snaked toward Flagstaff on Thursday, prompting residents of outlying areas to prepare to flee and blanketing the city in smoke.

The human-caused Slide Fire started Tuesday and had burned 7.5 square miles in and around Oak Creek Canyon, a scenic recreation area along a highway between Sedona and Flagstaff.

"We have no containment reported whatsoever," Bill Morse, a Flagstaff Fire Department captain and a spokesman for firefighting managers, told CBS News. "When you take fuel, weather and topography, put them all together after the drought that we've had, it's fire season in Arizona, and this thing's going to push. It's going to do some damage."

...There were no reports so far of injuries or structures burned.

The fire forced the evacuations of 100 threatened businesses and homes in a 2-mile stretch north of the state park, and 15 people stayed at a shelter in Flagstaff.

As the fire moved up the canyon's steep walls, it sent up large amounts of smoke and ash and created hazy conditions in Flagstaff, about 15 miles from the blaze.

OAK CREEK CANYON, Ariz. -- Hundreds of firefighters poured into Arizona on Wednesday to battle a wind-whipped wildfire burning in a rugged canyon between Sedona and Flagstaff, forcing the evacuation of resorts and campgrounds and sending choking plumes of smoke across the area.

About 200 firefighters and other personnel are already assigned to the fire, including five Hotshot crews, Coconino National Forest officials said Wednesday. An additional 15 Hotshot crews are on order, as well as 10 other firefighting crews and dozens of fire engines, officials said. A top-level fire management team was to take over command Wednesday afternoon.

The fire had blackened at least 850 acres on the western slope of the canyon by Wednesday morning, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Brady Smith told CBS Phoenix affiliate KPHO-TV....

Logged

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

(CNN) -- Authorities asked people to evacuate 1,000 structures near a wildfire in Alaska's Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday as the blaze spread.

The Funny River Fire has been raging for almost a week in Soldotna, south of Anchorage, growing to engulf 140,000 acres by Sunday afternoon. Now, fire officials are worried recreational cabins and second homes where residents and retirees are spending the holiday weekend may be at risk, said Michelle Weston with the Alaska Interagency Incident Management Team....

The containment was at 20% with 450 personnel fighting the blaze. The Air National Guard sent two helicopters to assist with water drops, in addition to the four helicopters performing aerial firefighting....

...The massive fire in Alaska's Kenai Peninsula covered nearly 243 square miles and was 30% contained, according to a posting Sunday night on the Alaska Interagency Incident Management Team's Facebook page. It was burning in the 1.9-million-acre Kenai National Wildlife Refuge....Wildfires in Alaska's remote areas are not unusual during the summer months, with an average of a million acres burned each fire season, Weston said.

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

(Reuters) - Smugglers in northern California’s fire-ravaged Stanislaus National Forest are sneaking out pricey contraband - not marijuana this time, but a favorite delicacy of foodies: the luscious morel mushroom.

Despite a record “flush,” or bloom, of the tasty, wild fungi, mushroom hunters are banned from the forest because officials believe that scorched, unstable tree trunks, eroded soil and logging operations after last August’s massive Rim Fire have made the area too dangerous.

That means as much as $40 million in a bumper crop of morels — ironically sparked by the same fire that is blocking hunters — is rotting in the woods west of Yosemite Park.

“It’s a shame to let those morels go to waste,” said Curt Haney, president of the San Francisco Mycological Association, who doesn’t believe conditions are any more dangerous than in other, less productive, burn areas where gatherers have access...

One of the largest wildfires in state history swept the western Sierra Nevada last summer. The blaze burned for two months, devoured 257,000 acres of forest and destroyed at least 11 homes.

The Rim fire also primed the region for a potentially massive uprising of morel mushrooms. These finger-sized, wrinkly headed delicacies grow in the springtime, and they sprout most prolifically in regions where fires have burned the previous summer. Mushroom hunters know this and, every April, they swarm into burned woodlands, baskets in hand, as they reap the bounty that rises from the ashes.

But this spring, there will be no such foraging bonanza in the Stanislaus National Forest, some three hours southeast of Sacramento. The U.S. Forest Service has closed the Rim fire zone to the public, and morels hunters are in dismay.

Forest Service officials are naming safety as the reason for the closure. Dead, burned trees, they say, are liable to drop branches and pine cones onto foragers and other hikers. Even those accessing the area by vehicle are at risk of being crushed by falling trees, they claim.

“Hazardous trees are lining the roadways,” said Rebecca Garcia, public affairs officer with the Stanislaus National Forest.

Other large areas that experienced forest fires last summer have been opened to the public—such as the large American fire area in the Tahoe National Forest. But Garcia explained that the Rim fire zone has remained closed because of the especially high temperatures at which this particular fire burned. The extreme heat left each standing tree at a higher-than-usual risk of falling and injuring hikers and drivers, according to Garcia.

Mushroom hunters are not convinced.

“We’ve hunted morels in areas identical to the Rim fire, where the burn was just as hot, and we’ve never had problems,” said Curt Haney, president of the Mycological Society of San Francisco.

Also baffling to mushroom hunters is the fact that 77,000 acres burned by the Rim fire within Yosemite National Park were opened to the public several weeks ago.

“So if it’s safe there, why not outside the park?” Haney said.

...

How real the dangers of hiking in burned forests are is a matter of ongoing debate. Donald Hughes, a mushroom-hunting enthusiast in Oakland, says he has hunted morels in a dozen or more fresh burn zones. One gets covered in soot and ash, he said.

“But I’ve never heard of anyone getting hurt,” Hughes said.

Haney, in fact, claims it has never happened. In an April 3 letter to Susan Skalski, the forest supervisor of the Stanislaus National Forest, Haney wrote, “There is no reported case of any member of the general public sustaining an injury while hiking or pursuing recreational activities in a burn zone, whether or not related to mycological activities.”

....

Morels are among the most valued of edible mushrooms. A variety of morel species occur worldwide, with nations in Europe especially prizing the earthy-tasting, meaty-textured fungus. Across the United States, annual morel festivals and group collecting outings reflect the huge popularity of this particular mushroom, which may retail for more than $40 per pound.,,,

“There should be about $23 million, wholesale, of morels in that [closed portion of the] burn,” he said.

Logged

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Firefighters in Washington state have spent a week battling wildfires that have covered more than 370 square miles (958 sq km), but favourable weather is expected to bring cooler temperatures and lighter winds. As firefighters gain control of the flames, residents are returning to find destruction in their wake

theguardian.com, Monday 21 July 2014 12.31 EDT

...

Burnt vehicles are pictured after much of the area was consumed near Methow. Although the weather is improving, the towns in the scenic Methow Valley remain without power and have limited landline and cellphone service. Photograph: David Ryder/Reuters

Logged

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Firefighters in northern California were on Sunday battling a wildfire that has destroyed 10 homes and forced hundreds of evacuations in the Sierra Nevada foothills, while a fire near Yosemite grew significantly overnight.

Fire officials said the Sand Fire had burned about 3,800 acres in Amador and El Dorado counties since Friday. A CalFire spokeswoman, Lynne Tolmachoff, said the fire continued to threaten hundreds of homes east of Sacramento.

Authorities have evacuated about 500 homes and closed roads near Plymouth in Amador County's wine-growing region.

Tolmachoff said the fire could grow again as firefighters brace for high wind and triple-digit heat.

Meanwhile, a wildfire that began on Saturday reached 2,100 acres, destroying one home in a small community outside Yosemite National Park. Park Ranger Scott Gediman said no others were immediately threatened.

Logged

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Tahoe Summit - They Finally say UNCLE and sign to allow Logging in Lake Tahoe Basin - Admit there policies have FAILED !!! ( as planned)( It's bad for business if Tahoe turns into a burnt match stick and they are still pushing for a future winter Olympics! )

But what about the rest of the wests forests? Are they all to fall into decay and unrelenting fires?

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Lake Tahoe, a crown jewel of the western landscape, is being challenged by drought, invasive species, the threat of catastrophic wildfire and climate change, officials said Tuesday.

The warning came during an annual summit about protecting the iconic lake that straddles the California-Nevada border. The meeting brought unusual bipartisan consensus among federal lawmakers that more logging should play a role in reducing the fire danger.

Those in attendance said decades of suppressing wildfires, no matter how remote, has left many forests too thick with trees, leading to disease and stoking high-intensity wildfires.

“The policy of the last 30 years has failed and failed miserably,” said Republican Rep. Tom McClintock of California. He told more than 300 participants that money from logging could help forest improvements.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who convened the 18th annual summit, agreed in a later interview that there are too many regulations preventing the removal of dead, dying and overcrowded trees before and after wildfires strike. She recalled that what were grassy alpine meadows when she first visited the lake more than 70 years ago are now dense forests.

Feinstein and other U.S. senators in both states are pushing legislation that would provide an additional $415 million in federal money to fight invasive species, wildfires and reduce erosion that clouds the lake.

Meanwhile, federal and state officials from both states and both political parties signed a proclamation at the summit backing timber reduction and wildfire prevention efforts near Lake Tahoe.

Governors Jerry Brown of California and Brian Sandoval of Nevada, U.S. Sens. Harry Reid and Dean Heller of Nevada, and Barbara Boxer of California signed the proclamation, as did U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei of Nevada.

Several said the region learned lessons in fire prevention after a wind-driven wildfire destroyed more than 250 homes on the south shore of Lake Tahoe five years ago.

U.S. Rep. John Garamendi, a Democrat from California, was not among the proclamation signers. He said in an interview that logging can play a role, though it is not the panacea suggested by McClintock. He faulted Republican leaders in the U.S. House for blocking a proposal to keep spending federal money on forest improvement programs instead of diverting the funds to pay for suppressing the rampant wildfires that are sweeping much of the West after three years of drought.

Logged

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Again - since they shut down the timber industry here in the 70's , they have left the forests to be burned away ... oh and Agenda21 - thousands of people have been burned out of their homes... (a lot of these homes have no fire insurance because of the locations.... )

Eldorado national forest erupts in flames, prompting governor Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency – with the prospect of more fires to come during California’s hot, dry autumn In pictures: California wildfire leaves destruction in its wakeYou tell us: how have wildfires have changed your life?

California is burning up. More than three years into a record drought, the state has become a tinderbox, and a single spark can be enough to burn ancient forests, coastal chaparral and any houses that stand in the way.

Just this week, a popular stretch of the Eldorado national forest, halfway between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe, erupted in flames. The fire, apparently started by an arsonist and fanned by high winds, ripped through more than 70,000 acres in three days, causing California’s governor, Jerry Brown, to declare a state of emergency.

More than 4,000 firefighters have rushed to the scene from around the country deploying planes, helicopters and hundreds of thousands of gallons of water and fire retardant.

...

“People are constantly launching stealth cities, new communities within wild lands, which often have no mayor, no governance, no public services, yet on the weekends may attract 150,000 people,” he said. “Fire experts talk about creating firebreaks, but people don’t want their land modified …

[ yeah right = the forest service won't let them do S.... ]

Logged

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

TUOLUMNE COUNTY (CBS13) – Officials with the U.S. Forest Service say there are too many trees in the Sierra, creating a major fire hazard and sucking up much-needed water.

Some researchers say cutting down more trees could help ease California’s water problems...

“This is a forest that is a product of the fire-suppression policies that have been imposed by the federal government over the past 100 years. It’s very dense,” he said.

[ they have suppressed the timber industry for over 50 years and not allowed thinning ... ] so yeah fire suppression was a primary concern.

You can see the difference between a forest cleared of extra trees and brush and a plot that hasn’t been touched in nearly a century. Bales and his team estimate thinning Sierra forests could provide 10 to 20 percent additional runoff — more water for us.

Logged

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Alaska is no stranger to wildfires. The Alaska Division of Air Quality reports that in 2004, the state saw 701 fires which consumed more than 6.5 million acres of land, but they are on track to break that record before long

Alaska DOF official, Tim Mowry, told NBC News that the fires were caused by a relatively dry spring which left plains vulnerable to ignition via lightning, but what was unusual was the volume and variety of the fires.

In this Sunday, June 28, 2015 photo provided by The Wenatchee World, a Douglas County firefighter sprays down the back of a home in Wenatchee, Wash., trying to protect it from burning embers flying off of a neighboring house on fire. A wildfire fueled by high temperatures and strong winds roared into the central Washington neighborhood, destroying properties and forcing residents of several hundred homes to flee, authorities said Monday. (Don Seabrook/The Wenatchee World via AP)

WENATCHEE, Wash. (AP) — From just across the Wenatchee River, Dominick Bonny watched a whole neighborhood in his central Washington town burn as a wildfire destroyed two dozen homes and forced hundreds to flee.

"With the wind blowing away from us, it was like we were watching a natural disaster within arm's reach," he said.

Wildfires hit parts of central and eastern Washington over the weekend as the state is struggling with a severe drought. Mountain snowpack is at extremely low levels, and about one-fifth of the state's rivers and streams are at record low levels

The Lake Fire located in San Bernardino National Forest was reported just before 4:00 p.m. on June 17. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. It is approximately 11,000 acres in size and burning in timber. It is currently 10 percent contained. There are approximately 150 structures threatened, however no structures are believed to be damaged or destroyed at this time. Big Bear High School faculty and students had to relocate their graduation ceremony due to the fire's proximity.

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

^^^^^^^ That is an incredible picture of Alaska with it's 391 fires in June. IMO it is HAARP and them trying to divert radiation from Fukushima with chemtrails, etc. that helped cause this mess.

Whatever is going on the Jet stream in the west and USA has been completely disturbed from normal . I haven't really seen any articles talking about how strange it is now and how it has disrupted the weather across the USA ... This seems tro have started up back in 2008 ( same time as the economic collapse! and Fukashima) :

The jet stream these days is all over the place: very high, very low, and very swooshy. (That’s a technical term I just made up.) All this movement means that all of us are experiencing unusual weather. Above the line it tends to be cool, below warm

| - - - - - - here we go NOAA: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/synoptic/201501Synoptic Discussion - January 2015Note: This Synoptic Discussion describes recent weather events and climate anomalies in relation to the phenomena that cause the weather. These phenomena include the jet stream, fronts and low pressure systems that bring precipitation, high pressure systems that bring dry weather, and the mechanisms which control these features — such as El Niño, La Niña, and other oceanic and atmospheric drivers (PNA, NAO, AO, and others). The report may contain more technical language than other components of the State of the Climate series.

Logged

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Three firefighters were killed and four others injured in central Washington Wednesday battling one of the more than 100 wildfires burning across at least 1.1 million acres in the West, authorities told NBC News.

The fatalities occurred when winds shifted unexpectedly near the towns of Twisp and Winthrop and turned back on crews fighting a small new fire, Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said.

"It was a hellstorm up here," Rogers told KXLY-TV. "The fire was racing and the winds were blowing in every direction."

...

White House spokesman Eric Schultz said President Barack Obama had been briefed on the situation. "On behalf of a grateful nation, the president's thoughts and prayers are with the families of these brave Americans," he said. ...

August 17, 2015 7:30 am • KEITH RIDLER Associated PressBOISE (AP) -- Wildfires have destroyed 42 homes and at least 79 outbuildings in northern Idaho near the town of Kamiah

Logged

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

CHELAN, Wash. (AP) — National Guard troops used shovels and axes to dig fire lines as they joined hundreds of people fighting huge, destructive fires near this central Washington resort town.

The guard units working in Washington Tuesday were part of a massive response to blazes burning unchecked throughout the West.

The situation is so urgent that the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise this week called in 200 active-duty military troops to help contain roughly 95 wildfires. It's the first time since 2006 that the agency has mobilized soldiers for fire-suppression.

..."The military has been activated. We have National Guard here to help us out," Allen said, adding that Canada loaned resources, too, and authorities were also talking to New Zealand and Australia.

Soldiers are being deployed to help fight wildfires in the West for the first time since 2006, the Pentagon announced Thursday.

“The Army doesn’t have firefighters,” said spokesman Lt. Col. Joe Buccino. “But the Army has soldiers that can do things in noncombat roles.”

On Sunday, about 200 active-duty soldiers from the 17th Field Artillery Brigade, 7th Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, will begin fighting the Tower Fire, located north of Spokane. The soldiers will assist the firefighters by taking care of places where the fire has gone out and helping to create firebreaks.

The 17th Field Artillery Brigade was identified for this role in April and has spent the summer training to fight wildfires.

With approximately 95 large wildfires burning 1.1 million acres across the western United States, 2015 is on course to be one of the worst fire seasons on record.

Logged

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5